The invention relates to a hollow chamber seal for sealing a gap between an edge of a fixed roof section and a movable cover of a vehicle roof in which both a deformation of the hollow chamber and an additional deformation of the seal are possible to compensate for gap tolerances.
In a known hollow chamber seal of this type German Pat. No. 34 42 653 that is intended for attachment on the edge of the roof section, a hollow chamber is provided in a widened part of the seal that borders the roof section and the widened part goes into a tapered sealing part extending away from the roof section. This tapered sealing part is held securely in a space between the fixed roof area and a strip fastened under it. The hollow chamber seal exhibits, a bulge allocated to the front side of the strip, a bulge that is braced on the front side only locally on the elevations formed from the front side. If, in the known seal, the deformation capacity of the hollow chamber is virtually exhausted, sealing material can be pushed into the interspaces formed between the elevations. In this way, two consecutive possibilities for compensation are obtained. In the known hollow chamber seal, when there is a narrow gap, the displacement of sealing material into the interspaces between the elevations on the front side of the strip causes a sharp increase in the contact pressure. The displacement of the sealing material after exhaustion of the deformation capacity of the hollow chamber further leads to only a relatively limited additional possibility for tolerance compensation.
The primary object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a hollow chamber seal of the initially mentioned type that allows an even greater tolerance compensation and provides for a relatively small increase in the contact pressure when the gap is narrow. Simultaneously, the present invention seeks to ensure simple installation without the need for additional parts.
This object is achieved according to preferred embodiments of the invention in that, for the additional deformation, a part of the seal having at least one hollow chamber is connected to the sealing body so that it can pivot around a swivel axis that is parallel or nearly parallel to the major surfaces of the cover, i.e. the axis extends lengthwise along the seal parallel to the edge of the cover to which the seal is mounted.
The swivel connection between the hollow chamber part and the sealing body can be simply designed so that even pivoting movements of the hollow chamber part around relatively large pivoting angles require only a small exertion of force. The hollow chamber seal according to the invention, thus, allows larger tolerances to be compensated for without problems and, particularly, without an excessive increase in the contact pressure when the gap is small. Additional parts, such as the strips necessary in the known seal, are not required. Correspondingly, the hollow chamber seal can be installed in an especially simple manner.
In further aspects of preferred embodiments, the sealing body can be made for direct fastening on the edge of a cover, of transparent or translucent material, i.e., for this purpose it can be provided with two arms that project from the sides, are essentially parallel and, in the installed state, surround the edge area of the cover from above and below. An especially simple seal design is obtained if the hollow chamber part is hinged on the sealing body by a elastically deformable arm that forms the bending axis.
The sealing body can exhibit, on a side facing away from the swivel axis, a lip that extends horizontally at least partially over the hollow chamber part or, on the other hand, the hollow chamber part can have, on a side facing away from the swivel axis, a lip that extends horizontally at least partially over the sealing body.
In the installed condition of the seal, the hollow chamber part can also be made to pivot opposite the sealing body. However, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is also possible to provide means to fasten the hollow chamber part to the sealing body in a pivoting position determined during an adjustment process. For fastening in this way, the lip and the hollow chamber part or the sealing body can be provided, on the surfaces facing each other, with notch means, for example toothing or a flocking.
To limit the pivot angle of the hollow chamber part opposite the sealing body, at least one stop can be provided. The lip can, together with the hollow chamber part and the sealing body, delimit a space that is open toward the bottom of the seal to provide an increase in the contact pressure of the seal, at higher vehicle speeds by using the excess pressure then occurring in the vehicle interior. If the cover would be able to fit from above and below into the roof section as is the case, for example, with roofs that both slidably retract and upwardly tilt, the hollow chamber seal, preferably, has two superposed hollow chamber parts that are appropriately connected in areas that face each other and can each be pivoted around one of two superposed swivel axes.
Using a hollow chamber seal according to the invention, surface tolerances of a movable cover of a vehicle roof can easily be compensated in that the cover with the attached hollow chamber seal is inserted into a template, bringing the hollow chamber part into a pivoting position that corresponds to predetermined external dimensions of the unit consisting of the cover and the hollow chamber seal, and in that the hollow chamber part is placed opposite the sealing body in this pivoting position, for example by using the above mentioned notch means or by putting adhesive between the hollow chamber part and the sealing body.